Too early to judge Holy Cross coach

Three years ago, Ashley Cooper told The Asbury Park Press that she was excited about her decision to play basketball at the College of the Holy Cross.

"After all the work, you end up where you're supposed to be," she said. "I believe I ended up where I belonged."

As it turns out, Cooper didn't belong at Holy Cross. After two seasons of unremarkable play, she abandoned an athletic scholarship and transferred to New York University, where she no longer competes in the sport she's loved since childhood.

Then, Wednesday morning, she made headlines across the country by filing a lawsuit against veteran HC basketball coach Bill Gibbons, claiming he verbally and physically abused his players. The 20-year-old former high school star says Gibbons shook them by the shoulders, struck and berated them repeatedly during games and once slapped her so hard on the back that he left a hand print.

"Defendant Gibbons ... would act in an outrageous manner in his yelling, ranting, screaming and hysterics directed towards the Holy Cross players as well as game referees, which prompted players on opposing teams to remark, 'Your coach is crazy,' among other comments," claims the lawsuit, filed in Manhattan.

The accusations come a week after the women's basketball coach at Georgetown University resigned amid allegations that he verbally abused his players. And Cooper's suit claims that Gibbons' conduct "exceeds the misconduct" of Mike Rice, who was fired in April as men's coach at Rutgers after a videotape showed him shoving, grabbing and throwing balls at players.

The allegations surprise many who know Gibbons as an intense guy with a penchant for histrionics — jumping up and down, arm flailing, yelling at refs — but hardly as verbally or physically abusive. They note that he's been coaching at Holy Cross for 29 years — wouldn't someone have raised concerns before now?

Wednesday night, Amy O'Brien couldn't say enough about her former coach. The HC Hall of Famer led the college to three league championships in the late 1990s and said she's "devastated" by the allegations.

"Coach Gibbons has made such a positive impact on so many players' lives," she said. "He couldn't have been a better role model, coach and person ... I've never even heard the man swear. My experience and the experience of my teammates has been 100 percent positive, and I feel confident speaking for all of them."

O'Brien's experience contradicts Cooper's claim that "the morale of past and present players on the team is so low" that they won't even return for alumni games. On the contrary, O'Brien said, alumni games are held every year, and "tons of players" attend an annual tailgate party for fall homecoming.

"Players hold him in the highest regard and they come back all the time," O'Brien said. She said she still keeps in touch with Gibbons and brings her daughters to games.

Yesterday, the college announced that Gibbons has voluntarily stepped aside from his coaching duties for now, a move applauded by Cooper's lawyer.

"They knew they had a problem," said Elizabeth Eilender. "Now the rest of the world knows they have a problem, and they can no longer deny it."

Well, not really. Anyone can file a lawsuit, and as yet we have only the claims of a single player who started in five games last year, versus the experience of athletes, fans and sportswriters who have watched Gibbons in action for decades. It should be easy enough to either validate or dismiss Cooper's accusations; while the system plays out, the coach deserves a fair shot at preserving his reputation.